St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-14
SAMPLES OF SERMONS.
Representative Disceurses From Min
neapolis Pulpits.
DR.. SHUTTER ON ANARCHISM.
Rev. Simmons Talks of HangiRg---Ser'
mons by Revs. ]. ]. Hall and
G. L. Morrill,.

Rev. MariuS d. Shutter preached yes
terday morning at the Church of the
Redeemer upon The Lessons of An
archy." He said:
1t is not my purpose to discuss the
question of the guilt or innocence of
those men who were last Friday exc
cuted in Chicago. That question was
for the courts. shall not discuss the
mode of punishment which they re-
ceived; that question was for the state.
For the men themselves l have neither
eulogy nor obloquy. They are gone.
But their doctrines are not yet deaq,
their methods may be initiated by 9TH
erS. To those doctrines and methods L
shall address myself this morning. The
first article in the anarchists creed IS
abolition of private property, or social
ism proper. The second article is the
abolition of all existing government.
As one of them has expressed 1t: 'lhe
ultimate aim of society is the reduction
of the functions of government to nofh-
ing: that is, a society without govern
ment, anarchy We naturally ask how
all this is to be brought about. Is it to
come gradually by education and de-
Velopment?-by the use Of moral and
intellectual means! There are those,
indeed, who so think and advise,
but this does not appear to be
the prevailing opinion. The Arbeiter
Zeitung, of Chicago. said, "Dyna-
mite is the emancipation. In the hand of
the enslaved it cries aloud, Justice or
annihilatiOn.' But best of all, working
men are not only learning its use. they
are going to use it effectually until per-
sonal ownership, property rights. are
destroyed, and free society and Justice
becomes the rule among men. There
will be no need of government, since
there will be none to submit to be gov
erned. Hail to the deliverer dynamite"
That these articles are not held merely
as a fashion or speculation, the eXplO-
sion of the bomb at the Chicago hay
market gives ample evidence.
What shall we say to these things?
We may not muZZle a theory as theory.
We must not prevent the use of peace
able means to advance it: but when the
advocates of any theory forsake the
methods of peace and law and use VIC
lence, they become criminals and not
refOrmers. When they organize armed
bands for the overthrow of existing gov
ernmentS, they become traitors. When
city authorities knowingly permit the
formation of such bands they are not to
be held guiltleSS of results. Let us hope
that the glorificatiOn of dynamite will
no longer be heard in silence. The
severity of the laws sentence in cases of
recent date gives no warrant to believe
that its sentence will be more lenient in
the future. But suppose the means advO-
Gated prove etIectual, then what? The
refOrmers give us no definite idea of
that which lies beyond the coming chaos.
We are assured that all will be free and
happy. but how do we know this? How
do we know that the same class diStinc-
tiOnS may not arise in the new society?
How do we prove that then all men will
be intelligent and upright? Human
nature will be human nature still. The
reign of universal brotherhood must
come through the same slow and toll
some processes that operate now. We
indeed hope TO see human conditions
made better, but we expect this to come
by the silent operation of moral and in
tellectual and legal forces. Let the
workingmen Of this country look not
TO the ttful igniS fatuuS of anarchy,
dancing over boys and marshes into
which many a soul has sunk; but to the
bright eternal stars of patience and So
briefly and industry and law.
But suppose we are safely past the
deluge, suppose that the promise of a
state of society in which there shall be
no government and no private property
has been made good, what advantages
shall we have? 1t will not remove those
inequalities that go down beneath the
surface; it will not furnish additional
incentives to labor. If there is nothing
a man can call his own, one of the
strongest influences to make men sober,
industrious and economical will be taken
away. The desire to have a piece of
ground he can call his own, to build
upon it house that shall be his home
has been many mans salvation. 1t
has saved millions OF dollars from the
saloons; has been the parent of indus
try: has put strength in 10000 good right
arms. Admit that human selfShness
carries men too far, and often makes
them too grasping: it is an incidental
and durable evil that, in the meantime,
may be set over against the spirit of
envy which constantly breaks the COM
mandment, Thou shalt not cOvet any
thing that is thy neighbOr's."